The applicants have proposed to expand the commitment to minority training at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and to strengthen its ongoing relationship with Howard University (HU) by building a bridge to a doctoral degree at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Over the last several years, HU has been sending bachelor degree trained Exercise Science students to URI to study for the MS degree in Exercise Science. The University of Puerto Rico also sends its minority Exercise Science students to URI to study for their MS degree. The URI and UCONN have entered into a formal commitment to offer sponsorship to minority trainees. The four faculty scientists of both institutions will give these students one-on-one apprenticeship training in the laboratory procedures and techniques used in their ongoing funded research. These laboratory procedures are germane to many areas of basic physiology and include: spectrophotometric analysis, tissue preparation, electron microscopy procedures, other biochemical and histological techniques, and procedures necessary to study thermal balance and environmental stress. The skills acquired during this training program will provide these students with experiences that will allow them to compete with others in the broader discipline of physiology.